Library and Information Science Commons^™

The President's Column, Laura Slavin

The Southeastern Librarian

SELA President Laura Slavin's column for the Summer 2026 issue of the Southeastern Librarian

Proposed Constitution Of The Southeastern Library Association, As Amended

The Southeastern Librarian

Proposed Constitution of the Southeastern Library Association, as Amended (Effective October 2026 following election)

Government Documents For All: The Basics Of Public Patent Search, Tim Dodge

The Southeastern Librarian

The Basics of Public Patent Search: Column No. 10

Second Acts In Academic Librarianship: Trends, Impacts, And Implications, Tiffany Davis Norris, Phill Johnson

The Southeastern Librarian

This study investigates the increasingly common phenomenon of academic librarianship as a second career. Survey data from more than 500 academic librarians found that nearly 70 percent of respondents did not begin their professional lives in the library field. These findings challenge the long-held perception of librarianship as an early or primary career choice and highlight significant trends with implications for library education, recruitment, leadership development, and burnout prevention. The study explores patterns in first careers and examines demographic trends, age distributions, and correlations between career background and current leadership roles. By framing librarianship as a deliberate career pivot rather …

Christianity, Gender Identity, Parents’ Rights: Book Censorship Discourse In Tennessee Communities, Janet Kesterson Isbell, Shawn Hinkel

The Southeastern Librarian

Hate and hostility toward the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer+ (LGBTQ+) community and people of color, inflamed in recent years by political extremism and radical conservatism, have permeated many areas of society. One context where hostilities have emerged in the past decade is public debate surrounding book challenges, which prompted a yearlong investigation into the polarizing phenomenon of book censorship in the United States. After extensive reading of media reports from around the nation, the authors focused on public discourse related to book challenges in Tennessee public and school libraries, where debate was contentious, librarians were threatened, and the state’s …

Library Anxiety: A Mixed-Methods Comparison Between Honors And University Learning First-Year College Students, Anthony L. Paganelli, Larry Sean Kinder

The Southeastern Librarian

This study examines the results from a mixed-methods comparison study that explored library anxiety between first-year Honors students and first-year students enrolled in a University Learning course. The study explores the levels of library anxiety, overconfidence, barriers, and behavioral factors. Findings indicate that Honors students had higher levels of library anxiety and associated perfectionism and self-esteem more closely with library use. University Learning students worked longer and more independently to use resources before seeking help. Knowing these results, teaching librarians could create tailored instruction sessions to address and alleviate library anxiety and its effects.

Sela Member Spotlight: Tim Dodge, Blair Jones

The Southeastern Librarian

SELA Member Spotlight No. 5, Summer 2026; Tim Dodge, History, Political Science, Economics, and Theatre & Dance Librarian, Auburn University

Haint Country: Dark Folktales From The Hills And Hollers, Samantha Duncan

The Southeastern Librarian

Haint Country: Dark Folktales from the Hills and Hollers
Matthew R. Sparks and Olivia Sizemore
Lexington: University Press of Kentucky, 2024
ISBN: 9781985900974
216 pp., $24.95 (Pbk)

Of Slash Pines And Manatees: A Highly Selective Field Guide To My Suburban Wilderness, Ashley Roach-Freiman

The Southeastern Librarian

Of Slash Pines and Manatees: A Highly Selective Field Guide to My Suburban Wilderness
Andrew Furman
Gainesville: University Press of Florida, 2025
ISBN: 9780813080963
208 pp., $28.00 (Pbk)

The Jewish South: An American History, A. Blake Denton

The Southeastern Librarian

The Jewish South: An American History
Shari Rabin
Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2025
ISBN: 9780691208763
296 pp., $29.95 (Hbk)

Author Insights: Book Reviews In Depth: An Interview With Ann Hite, Author Of I Am A Georgia Girl: The Life Of Lucille Selig Frank, Melissa Lockaby Howell

The Southeastern Librarian

Ann Hite
I Am a Georgia Girl: The Life of Lucille Selig Frank
Macon: Mercer University Press, 2025
ISBN: 9780881469981
337 pp. $32.00 (Cloth)

News From The States, A. Blake Denton

The Southeastern Librarian

Library news reports from SELA member states

Editor's Notes: Summer 2026, John H. Barnett

The Southeastern Librarian

The Southeastern Librarian editor's column for the Summer 2026 issue

Sela Leadership

The Southeastern Librarian

List of SELA Officers, Executive Committee, State Representatives, Committees, Sections, Round Tables, Ad Hoc Committees, and Working Groups for the Summer 2026 issue

Bibliography For "Faculty Publications Book Display", Sally Park

Library Displays and Bibliographies

A bibliography created to support a display about faculty publications during summer 2026 at the Leatherby Libraries at Chapman University.

Using Ai To Enhance Accessibility, April Griess, Jennie Tobler-Gaston

Criss Library Faculty Proceedings & Presentations

This presentation explores a practical look at AI tools for improving accessibility. The first part demonstrates OCR workflows using Adobe Acrobat Pro and free OCR tools. Participants will see how each tool converts scanned PDFs into machine-readable text, how they differ in output quality and layout fidelity, and how each supports accessibility workflows.

The second part features an AI tool for transcribing handwritten text. The session will demonstrate accuracy issues, tool limitations, and ethical considerations when using AI.

The session is designed to help individuals and institutions determine which AI tools best fit their accessibility goals, staffing levels, and budget. …

Ai And Cataloging: What Do We Know, 4 Years In?, Emily Baldoni, Angela Yon

Faculty and Staff Publications – Milner Library

This poster will disentangle AI hype from AI reality by providing a systematic review and meta-analysis of the current empirical research on AI applications for cataloging. Since the introduction of ChatGPT in November 2022, AI has been proposed as a tool for increasing efficiency and freeing up librarians' time across all areas of librarianship, especially in the area of cataloging and metadata. There is often a gap, however, between current AI realities and the requirements of highly structured library metadata. Surveys show that many catalogers are already using Large Language Model (LLM) tools, with human intervention, to assist in tasks …

Empowering Emotion: Illustrating And Affirming The Affective Dimensions Of Research, Joshua Altshuler

Faculty and Staff Publications – Milner Library

This poster intends to enrich instructional librarians’ methods and practices for emphasizing the affective contexts of interacting with information. Rather than concentrating on library anxiety, this work is grounded in uplifting a broader spectrum of user emotional capacities, including determination, empathy, grief, and wonder. Specific course-integrated examples, with exhibited representations, will help attendees apply practical classroom exercises: introducing connections to information through close readings of graphic memoir and journalism comics panels; producing personal research disposition collages for a gallery walk; exemplifying the affective journey of acquiring and passing down knowledge using map visualizations. Whether they are run separately or collectively, …

Enhancing Research Communication With Visual Tools, Sonya Fogg

Library Class: Lunch & Learn

Understand the role of visual communication in medical research. Distinguish between data visualizations, infographics, and visual abstracts. Identify best practices and some resources and tools for creating effective visuals.

Pruning The Government Documents Garden: A Guide For Weeding Electronic Government Publications, Michelle E. Colquitt

Presentations

No abstract provided.